Blended

By AP KRYZA

Adam Sandler might be the smartest person in Hollywood. Adopting the Ernest P. Worrell prototype, the “Adam Sandler goes to” model has taken the comedian and his buddies camping, to the tropics and beyond. The dude’s on permanent vacation, popping out crappy movies between naps. In Blended, Sandler hits Africa—well, a high-end resort/spa in Africa, but that’s Africa enough to allow him to pet a baby elephant and dress up a monkey as a Hooters waitress. The film re-teams Sandler and Drew Barrymore—who vacationed together in Hawaii in 50 First Dates and belted ’80s hits in The Wedding Singer—as single parents. After a disastrous first date, they end up at the same isolated resort, where a vaguely racist parody of Ladysmith Black Mambazo and humping rhinos stoke the flames of love. The two bond as Sandler teaches Barrymore’s sons to man up with the help of sports, and Barrymore shows Sandler’s tomboy girls how to shimmy like ladies. All the familiar Sandler beats are here, from overwrought sentimentality (his daughter talks to her dead mom) to a cast of weirdo, scene-stealing supporting characters (good to see you again, Kevin Nealon). The rom-com suits Sandler’s sensibilities better than recent flops like That’s My Boy and Bedtime Stories. Perhaps that’s because Sandler’s a bit more relaxed here. Of course he is: He’s on vacation.